Composite bathing cap



April 26, 1966 H. A. OWEN 3,247,521

COMPOS ITE BATHING CAP Filed Nov. 20, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet l (fig-I. /04.

INVENIOR Hamid ,4. Owen BY Wm ATTORNEY A ril 26, 1966 H. A. OWEN3,247,521

COMPOSITE BATHING CAP Filed Nov. 20, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORHarold 4. 050572/ BY W W- aw ,e.

ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,247,521 COMPOSITE BATHING CAP Harold A.Owen, Dover, Del., assignor to International Latex Corporation, Dover,Del., a corporation of Delaware Filed Nov. 20, 1964, Ser. No. 431,484 3Claims. (Cl. 2-68) This application is a continuation-in-part of mypatent application Serial Number 330,468 filed December 13, 1963, nowabandoned.

My invention is a composite bathing cap comprising an innerwaterproofprotective cap and an outer decorative fabric headdress, with'improved.and peculiarly adapted securing means detachaibly securing themtogether.

The composite cap of my invention permits a girl to wear a waterproofprotective cap directly over her hair for keeping it dry while orshowering, and permits her at the very same time to wear an attractivefeminine headdress which give her the stylish appearance she likes onthe beach or even in the water. The form of the invention that is madeup particularly for use in showering will enable her to look attractiveand smart in the dormitory, or even when she is alone will enable her toenjoy a smart appearance. This composite article with detachablefastening between .the inner and outer parts also enables her toconveniently make alternative use of either the inner protective capalone, both together, or the outer headdress alone. The inner waterproofcap can be Worn alone as a swim cap, or its looser version can be wornalone as a shower cap. The fabric headdress can be worn over the swimcap on the beach or in the water. The fabric of the outer headdressdries quickly, so the composite swim cap and outer headdress can be worncontinuously at the beach in and out of the water. Similarly in thestyle designed more for taking a shower, the. inner waterproof cap canbe worn alone to protectthe hair, or the composite cap can be worn rightin the shower when, as for example in a dormitory, the user wants toappear smart and stylish. The outer decorative headdress can be wornalone on the beach for example if a girl does not want to be wearing atight waterproof cap but does want to protect her hair from wind or sunand look attractive and chic. The outer headdress is well suited to beworn alone over curlers, and this is true of both the beach version andthe shower vers1on.

The composite cap of the present invention would not be successful ifthe operations of fastening together and detaching were inconvenient.The effective durability of the relatively frail outer headdress is alsoimportant. In fine, the composite cap must be easy to put together andtake apart, 'as well as to don and adjust singly or combined, withoutundue strain particularly upon the outer headdress member. Thereforespecifically suitable fastening arrangements are required.

In the drawings I have shown an illustrative composite bathing cap madeup for beach and swim wear, and also an illustrative composite bathingcap made for shower and boudoir wear.

FIGURE 1 shows the inner waterproof protective cap of a composite swimcap made in accordance with my invention,

FIGURE 2 shows the composite swim cap being worn with the outerheaddress Worn over, and secured to, the inner water-proof cap,

FIGURE 3 shows the outer headdress being worn alone,

FIGURES 4, 5 and 6 are corresponding views of the composite bathing capdesign for shower and boudoir wear, and

FIGURE 7 is a view of the outer headdress of the composite swim capturned inside out to show the elastic 3,247,521 Patented Apr. 26, 1966edge band and the tabs attached thereto which carry the snap fastenerelements.

Whether designed for swim and beach Wear or for shower or boudoir wear,my composite bathing cap comprises an inner waterproof protective cap,shown at .10 in FIGURES 1 and 3 and 20in FIGURES 4 and 6, an outerdecorative fabric headdress shown at '15 in FIG- URES 2, 3 and 7 and 25in FIGURES 5 and 6. In each case the inner and outer members aredetachably fastened together at their lower edges by snap fasteners.These are snap fasteners of standard type made up of male and femalemembers mounted on the outside of the inner cap and the .inside of theouter cap member. Preferably the male snap fastener elements are mounted.on the water.- proof cap and the female elements on the headdress, butin any event each cap member has all one kind and the other member hasall the other kind. These snap fasteners or their parts are allidentified in the drawings by reference character 30.

In all cases a plurality of snap fasteners are provided on the outerface of the inner waterproof cap at its lower edge, and these fastenersare about equally spaced around its periphery. These snap fasteners havetheir mating element on the outer side of the cap, and are secured by aclip applied to the inner face of the cap. As seen in FIG- URE 3, thecap has a longitudinally fluted foam rubber channel water dam as itsresilient bottom edge portion and these fasteners are preferably appliedonto this dam immediately inboard of its outermost longitudinal rib.Since this swim cap is primarily utilitarian the visibility of the snapfasteners at its outer face when this element is worn by itself does notdetract appreciably.

The same is not true however for the outer headdress. Its purpose isglamour and feminine attractiveness, which effect would be seriouslyimpaired if mechanical fastener elements were visible at its outersurface. I solve this problem and the problems of provision for handlingand stretching in one combined arrangement. I sew an elastic band uponthe inner surface of the outer headdress, near its bottom edge, at andcovering the raw edge of the turned-over hem. This elastic band isstretched to one and a half to two times its rest length when it issewed upon the extended edge of the cap. When the stretching force iswithdrawn the elastic band resumes its rest length, gathering in-ratheruniformlythe bottom edge of the cap, shortening its periphery from itsinitial substantially larger size. Thus this headdress has anexpansi-ble opening therein. The usual head size lies about midwaybetween the rest diameter dimension of the band as sembly and the fullyextended dimension, which latter is limited and determined by theextended dimension of the non-stretch fabric of which the headdressmember is made.

Snap fastener elements complementary to those on the inner Waterproofcap member are secured to the inner face of the outer headdress. Theyare secured thereto at the elastic band. In the preferred embodiment ofmy invention these snap fastener elements are preformed onto shortlengths of tape, constituting one form of fabric tab means, and theselengths of tape have their free ends inserted into the turned over hem.This is done just before the elastic is sewed on and the hem therebysewed closed, the fabric tab means thus extending free and up inside theheaddress. This displaces the snap fastener a short distance upwardlyfrom the elastic band. The distance from the elastic band to the centerof the fastener may typically be one-half inch.

It will be understood that during the making up of these caps the sewingoperators will observe only a limited degree of precision. Likewisethere is in practice limited precision of the positioning of the snapfasteners onto the inner cap member. Moreover, when the cap is placed onthe head the headdress is pulled locally in one part more than another,and the girl may have occasion to reach her hand up into it to tuck herhair into place or make some other adjustment. This places a localizedstrain on the headdress. The gathering and stretchability of thesections between the fastener elements on the headdress allows someaccommodation for this when the headdress is so made, but in any eventthe short tape lengths themselves allow accornrnadation. They can swingto give extra length to one side or the other. They also can give somedegree of vertical accommodation as between the outer headdress and theinner cap. The outer headdress is a somewhat complicated article and itwould be unduly complicated if it had to be made other than with abottom edge lying in a single plane. The inner swim cap on the otherhand often curves down from the forehead to the ears and levels off atthe nape. Edge distortion is avoided by the difference in elasticity ofthe edges of the two members. Moreover, these two can better accommodatethemselves to each other because of the short lengths of verticallyextending tape that give some play for this purpose.

It will be appreciated that in the case of the swim cap more fastenerelements are needed, especially if the composite cap is to be Worn inthe surf, whereas the shower cap needs fewer. In each case preferablythe fasteners are symmetrically arranged and the outer headdress atleast is sufficiently symmetrical in a rotational sense that the usercan fasten any fastener element on the headdress to any fasteningelement on the inner cap, and then proceed around and fasten theremainder. It is not in such case necessary to match some one particularelement on the one member with some one particular elements on theother.

Having described illustrative embodiments of my invention, I claim:

1. A composite bathing cap comprising an inner waterproof protective capprovided with a plurality of snap fastener elements at its lower edgespaced about its periphery and an outer decorative fabric headdresshaving an expansible bottom edge opening therein and a plurality ofcomplementary snap fastener elements about the inside of its periphery,said bottom edge opening having an elastic tape secured about itsperiphery at its inner surface, said elastic tape being stretchable toabout one and a half to two times its rest length and being securedalong its length to the decorative headdress when in stretched conditionwhereby to substantially uniformly gather the decorative headdress soits can trimly fit the inner protective cap when assembled onto it andwhen 4 removed it can freely distend over a sometimes bulk hairdo.

2. A composite bathing cap comprising an inner waterproof protective capprovided with a plurality of snap fastener elements at its lower edgespaced about its periphery and an outer decorative fabric headdress ofsubstantially larger periphery, means for shortening said headdressperiphery, fabric tab means secured about the periphery and extendingfree, and up inside the headdress, snap fasteners carried by said fabrictab means at free end locations peripherally spaced, the said two setsof snap fasteners being complementary and detachably securing theprotective cap and the decorative headdress together with facilitynotwithstanding rotational variations, any differences in dimensions andshape, and slack tolerances in manufacture.

3. A composite bathing cap comprising an inner waterproof protective caphaving a resilient lower edge and provided with a plurality of snapfastener elements at its lower edge spaced about its periphery and anouter decorative fabric headdress having an expansible bottom edgeopening therein, the inner, protective, cap having its snaps lying alongthe periphery which generally follows the hairline but goes under theears and is thus a compound curve not lying in one plane, in order togive fastening along the edge and have the edge accord with theforehead, ears, and nape, while the outer decorative headdress has itssnaps all lying in one plane to facilitate manufacture, and the bottomedge of the outer headdress having an elastic tape which is moreexpansible than the resilient lower edge of the inner cap so that theirdifference in elasticity allows the outer headdress to be gathered andthe inner cap and outer headdress to readily fit each other in thedesired shape at their common bottom edges.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,453,862 5/1923Check 2-187 1,670,631 5/1928 Miller 2-68 X 2,242,420 5/ 1941 Giovanna2-68 3,019,444 2/1962 Pollack 2-68 3,051,960 9/1962. Rendulich 2-68JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner.

M, J. COLITZ, G. H. KRIZMANICH,

Assistant Examiners,

1. A COMPOSITE BATHING CAP COMPRISING AN INNER WATERPROOF PROTECTIVE CAPPROVIDED WITH A PLURALITY OF SNAP FASTENER ELEMENTS AT ITS LOWER EDGESPACED ABOUT ITS PERIPHERY AND AN OUTER DECORATIVE FABRIC HEADDRESSHAVING AN EXPANSIBLE BOTTOM EDGE OPENING THEREIN AND A PLURALITY OFCOMPLEMENTARY SNAP FASTENER ELEMENTS ABOUT THE INSIDE OF ITS PERIPHERY,SAID BOTTOM EDGE OPENING HAVING AN ELASTIC TAPE SECURED ABOUT ITSPERIPHERY AT ITS INNER SURFACE, SAID ELASTIC TAPE BEING STRETCHABLE TOABOUT ONE AND A HALF TO TWO TIMES ITS REST LENGTH AND BEING SECUREDALONG ITS LENGTH TO THE DECORATIVE HEADDRESS WHEN IN STRETCHED CONDITIONWHEREBY TO SUBSTANTIALLY UNIFORMLY GATHER THE DECORATIVE HEADDRESS SOITS CAN TRIMLY FIT THE INNER PROTECTIVE CAP WHEN ASSEMBLED ONTO IT ANDWHEN REMOVED IT CAN FREELY DISTEND OVER A SOMETIMES BULKY HAIRDO.